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Leeds Beckett University to support Northern Diamonds in new partnership
The new agreement will see academics from the university consult on strength and conditioning, sports science, and nutrition, and give the squad access to the state-of-the-art Carnegie School of Sport building as they prepare for their remaining fixtures in the women’s domestic cricket season.
The partnership builds on work led by Carnegie School of Sport academics Dr Josh Darrall-Jones, who conducted pre-season testing with the team on campus earlier this year and Sarah Chantler, who delivered nutritional support for the previous two seasons.
Dr Darrall-Jones has continued to work closely with the Diamonds’ coaching staff and has supported Strength and Conditioning lead and LBU graduate Isaac Leung in improving practice design, performance planning, strength and conditioning, and sports science services to help ensure the team have a competitive advantage over their rivals.
Meanwhile, Sarah has worked across the senior and academy squads to improve nutritional understanding and practices, as well as provision during training and matchdays.
The Northern Diamonds are one of eight ‘regional hub’ women’s cricket teams in England and Wales and represent the North East and Yorkshire. They play t20 cricket in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and 50-over cricket in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
Speaking about the partnership, Dr Josh Darrall-Jones said: “This partnership will build on the strong relationships the university has already established with the Northern Diamonds and give them access to the expertise and facilities we have available at the Carnegie School of Sport.
“This will also allow us to provide placement opportunities to students across strength & conditioning, sports science and nutrition, giving them an opportunity to develop applied skills whilst still studying.
“Further to the support we provide, we are conducting novel research in female cricket that will help practitioners understand the match demands of t20 and 50-over cricket at regional level, which we hope will assist in bridging the gap between domestic and international standard cricket.”
James Carr, Regional Director of Women’s Cricket at Northern Diamonds said: “The partnership with LBU has really driven our programme forward. The ability to access the facilities and additional experts has meant we can really support the women since they embarked on pro-cricket in 2020.
“The team love training at Beckett and breaking up the long winter weeks up in particular between the nets at Headingley and the gym and track at Beckett.”
Read more about the Carnegie School of Sport’s partnerships with elite sporting organisations here.